Parables of the Bible: The End's Teacher
by Wilona Riva
Summary: God tells a story to a traveler, about a deceiver who becomes a prince.
1. Now it came to pass

Parables of the Bible: The End's Teacher

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: God owns the Bible; I'm just borrowing it.

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**Now it came to pass**

* * *

"Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." (1)

"First sensible thing I've heard him say all week," the persimmon-haired angel muttered to his darker-haired companion.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Laban's oldest daughter, Cherith?" Soterasiel demanded, frowning at the younger angel.

"Uh, yeah," Cherith blushed, vanishing.

"What, not even a good-bye?" Reve asked, his light blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

"And aren't _you_ supposed to be guarding Rachel, Laban's _other_ daughter?" the exasperated angel remarked.

Reve laughed and sarcastically saluted the older guardian, vanishing back to his post.

Baal laughed his dog-tailed butt off at the flustered angel's expense. "Poor, poor Soterasiel. Never a moment's peace."

The storm cloud which crossed Jacob's guardian's face was nothing compared when the fierce divine wind from the east blew him backwards several hundred feet away from the camp.

"Hey!" Baal yelled. his tail between his legs.

Soterasiel grinned. "I think the Alpha and Omega has spoken."

Baal whimpered and disappeared. He knew when not to press his luck.

Soterasiel shook his head, but couldn't help the stray thought that crossed his mind: how did Satan's right-hand demon come to possess an earthen-creature's tail? He chuckled as the Alpha and Omega responded with a series of flash images, which included an angry Lillith and some skunkweed.

He turned his attention back to the mother and son before him.

Rebecca finished applying the fleece to the back of Jacob's neck. "Relax," she told him. "This is the will of your father's God."

"Maybe so," Jacob said, a worried expression on his face. "I still think this is wrong, Mom, cheating Esau out of the blessing like this."

Soterasiel frowned. Jacob was out of character today.

"I doubt you could use a bowl of red lentil soup in this situation, Jacob," his mother replied, going to remove the kid meat from the stove.

Jacob winced. Was everyone going to remind him of _that _event?

* * *

**"You're wondering why Esau didn't question your father about the wearing of his clothes?"** the Great King asked, a knowing smile in his eyes.

The hooded traveler nodded.

**"Well, you see..."**

* * *

"A stupid prophecy?" Esau howled in anger. "Father's God made some prophecy before we were born and you encouraged Jacob to steal my birthright and blessing based on that?"

Rebekah could not meet her husband's gaze. "Yes," she murmured.

"Am I not worth more than a sparrow?" Esau asked her. (2)

* * *

**"All My children are precious in My sight," **the Great King told her.

"Even me?" the traveler asked, her rich soprano-alto tone rising above the flutter of angels' wings.

"Even you," the Son said, wrapping his arms around her.

* * *

**(1) Genesis 27:12**

**(2) Matthew 10:31**


	2. House of God, Gate of Heaven

Parables of the Bible: The End's Teacher

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: God owns the Bible; I'm just borrowing it.

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**House of God, Gate of Heaven**

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_"Your father was quite the character,"_ the Great Uncle laughed._ "Certainly kept Us on Our toes."_

The Son's mouth twitched, as Araton whispered 'no kidding' to Soterasiel.

_"You want to know about the dream?"_

* * *

"Hey, Cherith, bet I can make it to the bottom and back up before Soterasiel even notices we're gone!" Reve called to his fellow angel.

"You're on!" Cherith yelled, taking off.

"Hey, no fair!" Reve exclaimed, trying to catch up.

"_Way _too much energy," Araton muttered, going off in search of his partner. Where Araton was, Soterasiel wasn't far away.

* * *

_"Heaven and earth were wed for a single night, as they were in the dawn of the world. A ladder of golden Shekinah glory stitched together the two worlds in Time, as the Sons of El came and went," _the Great Uncle's voice lulled the traveler to sleep.

* * *

Satan screamed in terror as a bolt of the LORD's glory found him and hurled him from his hiding place. "This is a deserted place; I have a right to be here the same as this human!"

**"Not when it concerns My son," **the Great King said, gesturing at the man, who was using a stone for a pillow. He bent down and touched Jacob's forehead, calming the man's fear.

Satan hissed and vanished. He knew better than to challenge the Most High.

**"Do not worry, Israel, for I am with you,"** the Great King murmured, tenderly smiling down at the sleeping shepherd.

* * *

"Told you, I'd win," Cherith grinned, as he and Reve stopped to catch their breaths once the race was over.

"Dream's over, kiddos," Soterasiel rumbled. "Back to your posts."

"Why do you treat us like kids?" Cherith asked. "We were all created at the same time."

"Quit acting like one, then," came the retort.

"Have more fun in life," the younger angel shot back.

* * *

"And why do we have to clean the outer courts?" Reve grumbled.

"It teaches respect," the Son said, hands on hips.

* * *

Jacob opened his eyes and stretched in the early morning sunlight. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. "Was it all a dream? Did I really see Grandfather Abraham's Elohim?"

He saw the jug next to his pillow. "Huh. I don't remember this being here last night."

He bowed his head and anointed the stone. "Bethel," he christened the place.

_"Bethel," _the Great Uncle said, _"a place of worship, true and idolatrous."_

"Where a man may dream of angels and ladders and heavenly places," the Son murmured.

**"You did remember to tell them to stop sweeping, right?"** the Great King asked His Son.

"They got time off for the weddings," the Son said, rolling eyes up to the ceiling.

* * *

_"Araton and Soterasiel sure weren't bored during that time period," _the Great Uncle said, much to the traveler's amusement.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yes, I know. Cherith and Reve act like a bunch of hyper-active two year-olds on a sugar high. Randomness is part-and-parcel of their personalities. Araton and Soterasiel balance them out.**


	3. Not our custom

Parables of the Bible: The End's Teacher

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: God owns the Bible; I'm just borrowing it.

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**Not Our Custom**

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"Poor little Jacob," Baal cooed into the shepherd's ears, while watching Laban's flocks on the plains of Aram. The two angels guarding him scowled, but did not hinder the demon, who flicked his forked tongue at them.

"Really mature," Araton spoke up. "Tired of fighting with Lillith, so you came to play with us?"

Baal ignored them and stoked the silent shepherd's ego, "What is fourteen years but a drop in a bucket to the Almighty? At least your wives are more pleasing than Esau's."

Jacob trembled at the strange thought. Where was this caravan going? Why was he even thinking of Esau at a time like this. His thoughts returned to last week's events.

"It is not our custom," Laban explained to a furious Jacob, "Finish the bridal week and I will give you Rachel in exchange for another seven years of work." (1)

"He's caught in his own loom," Soterasiel murmured, as Jacob acquiesced to his uncle's wishes. "He's determined to have Rachel at any cost."

* * *

In the women's quarters, in Laban's home, Rachel twirled around in her bride's gown. "What do you think, Leah? Think Jacob will like it?"

Leah squinted at the lovely vision her sister made. "He'll begin spouting nonsense about doves and pomegranates," she said, swallowing the bile in her throat. _I can't believe Father would do this to me, to us!_

Rachel giggled. "I know; Benaiah was actually rehearsing his words a bit too audibly at the well three weeks ago. I can't help it to think of Lota's face when she hears him."

Leah had to laugh at that imagery. It was a well-known fact that Benaiah's chasing of Lota had become something of a joke in Haran. "I hope he lands her soon," she said, adjusting Rachel's veil. "I hear music approaching; Jacob's come."

Rachel bunched her skirts in her hands with nervousness. "I don't have anything stuck between my teeth, do I?"

"Rachel," Leah warily told her. "You know I have weak eyes."

"Oh, yeah," the younger sister murmured, not really paying attention.

Jacob shook his head wildly to clear his thoughts and stood up. "I may not love Leah, like I do Rachel, but she is my wife and I will treat her with respect."

Baal howled in anger as Soterasiel saluted his departing figure. "And good riddance," he murmured, taking up his post once more.

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure?" Reve asked Cherith.

"Absolutely," Cherith replied.

"Don't humans count backwards when the symptoms first begin to show? It's only been a month after all," Reve said.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Cherith responded.

* * *

**"Leah was not loved like Rachel was. I opened her womb and closed Rachel's. Your mother's guardian has always been sensitive to the sparks of life and sensed it at once. Nine months beneath her heart would bring forth your oldest brother," **the Great King spoke to the traveller.

"Reuben, meaning 'see, a son'," the traveler agreed. "Followed by Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Leah was rich in sons."

**"She was loved,"** the Great King added. **"Jacob may not have shown it, but he loved her, not as the sister of beloved Rachel, but for her quiet ways-her strength to deal with almost any kind of adversity."**

"Or else I wouldn't have been born," Dinah said, shaking out her auburn curls as she removed her hood. "Thank you, Adonai, for showing mercy to my mother."

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**(1) Genesis 29:26.**


End file.
